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 The Humane Society of The United States (HSUS), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and every other animal rights group that has come out of the woodwork to demonize Atlantic Canada's annual seal hunt must be sitting back right now in their comfy livingrooms with huge self-satisfied grins on their faces while they pat themselves on the back for a job well done.
They may not have succeeded in bringing the seal hunt to an abrupt end but they have been super successful in another way - they and their propaganda have managed to pit Canadian against Canadian...neighbour against neighbour and ultimately Canada against the world...
It's not a pretty picture, people but unlike the images one is lambasted with if one ventures onto any of the animal rights group's websites, there's no black-eyed white coated bundle of fluff gazing into a camera as a dark clothed monster looms overhead with a huge long handled hook swung over his left shoulder, no it's not that picture. This picture, artfully arranged and staged by the animal rights activists can't be seen unless one reads any given newspaper or website - this ugly picture involves Canadians denigrating and demonizing their fellow Canadians. No blood, no gore but the damage has the potential of becoming perniciously permanent.
Take for instance Saturday's edition of the Halifax Daily News. On page 13 of yesterday's paper could be found a big bold headline titled, "In Praise of Pamela Anderson". Atop the headline was a large colour photo of Ms. Anderson and an unidentified male companion. Both were sporting the latest in fashion wear - PETA tee-shirts. Below the headline were three letters to the editor penned by local women - two from Dartmouth and a third from Hammonds Plains. The newspaper implores us all to "Give Her A Break", 'her' being Ms. Anderson.
The Canadian-against-Canadian scenario is perfectly set out in these three letters. As a direct result of animal activism and anti-sealing propaganda, three local women accuse their fellow Canadians of being loud-mouthed, immoral, close-minded, distrustful, misinformed/uninformed, mean-spirited, judgmental, cowardly, blood thirsty savages who support animal cruelty in general and take great pleasure in watching seals being viciously beaten and skinned alive. On top of all that, we Canadians are a lazy bunch and refuse to involve ourselves in any type of volunteerism. Oh, and we don't trust women with surgically enchanced breasts.
Sucks to be a Canadian, eh?
On the other hand and again according to our three astute visionaries, it doesn't suck to be Pamela Anderson and furthermore if we barbaric Canadians were even half as cool as Pam, the world would be a better place in which to live. And that goes for the McCartneys and Bridget Bardot too. Heck, even Paul Watson deserves to be emulated by us backward Canucks. You remember Watson - the man who took credit for Costco's decision to remove seal oil capsules from their shelves and who referred to all Canadian DFO scientists as 'hired whores '.
But I digress. Pamela Anderson, the subject of the love-in on page 13, the woman who calls sealers "jerks beating pups on the ice" and "packs of greedy hunters", can do or say no wrong according to the three letter writers. In their opinion Pamela Anderson is a kind, caring, intelligent, brave, strong, charitable, altruistic, compassionate, passionate, political, commendable, shrewd, humourous, seal expert who is super-concerned about all animals and certainly has every right to her gigantic jugs.
Next thing we know, Anderson is going to be nominated for a Noble prize. Or at least sainthood. Somehow though I just can't picture her as 'Mother Pamela'.
So there you have it. For our three letter writers who apparently represent the general Canadian consensus, Pamela is good, Canada is bad. And this is the point that needs to be brought to the attention of everyone on both sides of this issue. Those who were against the seal hunt way before Pamela, Paul, Paul and Heather made it the cause du jour, are still against the seal hunt. We continue to oppose the hunt and speak out against it in a constructive manner. But we know something that your average celebrity has-been refuses to see - sealing in eastern Canada is a livelihood to many especially in Newfoundland. If seals were completely protected, the oceans would be overrun with them eventually. Many of those cute whitecoats would die a slow death by starvation. Ever seen death by starvation? It's no prettier than death by bludgeon but it certainly takes a lot longer to die.
Until the experts - Watson's 'hired whores' - can come up with viable and long-term alternatives for the seal hunt, the rest of us will have to endure the annual event. We who speak out against the hunt are still here but some of us who oppose the hunt, oppose the opposition even more. We are more offended by the militant animal activists than we are by the hunt. We are more offended by the lies and deceptive tactics perpetrated by outfits like HSUS and PETA than we are about the hunt. We are offended by activists entering our country and then denigrating our leaders and our fellow countrymen.
And finally we are offended by militant scare-mongering self-appointed "experts" successfully convincing Canadians that we are all one step up from the Neanderthal period. We are offended by a campaign that has evolved into a vicious war of words from one Canadian to another.
After all this, the seal hunt continues, all the activists will go home and forget about this country and the destruction they created that pits Canadian against Canadian. They will forget the turmoil they caused that prompts three letter writers to declare that they are in essence, ashamed to be Canadian.
Author Robert Benchley once said, 'tell us your phobias and we will tell you what you are afraid of'. Words to live by if you're an animal activist.
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